Maha session: MVA legislators protest against cooking gas price hike

Mumbai, Mar 2 (PTI) Legislators of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Thursday staged a protest in the Maharashtra legislature complex against the hike in cooking gas price and demanded its rollback.

The cooking Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) price was on Wednesday was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder.

Members of the MVA, which comprises the Nationalist Congress Party, Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), stood on the stairs of the Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday and shouted slogans against the state Eknath Shinde-BJP government, accusing it of hurting the interests of the common man and farmers.

Since the time this government has come to power, the common man’s household budget has collapsed. The electricity connections of farmers are being cut, they claimed.

The budget session of the state legislature is currently underway.
Following the price hike, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in Delhi now costs Rs 1,103, up from Rs 1,053, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) on Wednesday said Rs 1,103 was the rate for a 14.2-kg non-subsidised LPG cylinder.

The government does not pay any subsidy to most non-Ujjwala users and this is the rate they will have to pay for buying cooking gas refills.

The government pays Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to the 9.58 crore poor who got free LPG connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The effective price for them would be Rs 903 per cylinder.